Data Collector – Most Downloaded Track
Updated on March 4, 2018
Since the beginning of the century the music market has gradually been moving away from physical media to digital. Before being supplanted by streaming, downloads were the major part of this revolution. What are the most downloaded tracks? Did they all go on sale after the year 2000? You will find the answer in the list below!
Please keep in mind some artists with strong results in this format haven’t been studied so far, e.g. Pharrell Williams, Flo Rida, Kesha or Kanye West. All the figures reflect the value as collected at the time of the artist’s respective articles.
A lot of lists like this one are available in the Data Collector, so feel free to read them to gauge how your favorite artist charts within it.
Tracks Ranking – Raw sales – Downloads + Ringtones
1. 2010 – Adele – Rolling In The Deep [21] – 20,600,000
2. 2010 – Maroon 5 ft. Christina Aguilera – Moves Like Jagger [Hands All Over] – 20,200,000
3. 2009 – Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling [The E.N.D.] – 17,700,000
4. 2010 – Eminem ft. Rihanna – Love the Way You Lie [Recovery] – 17,540,000
5. 2011 – Adele – Someone Like You [21] – 17,350,000
6. 2014 – Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk [Uptown Special] – 17,030,000
7. 2008 – Lady Gaga – Poker Face [The Fame / The Fame Monster] – 16,300,000
8. 2010 – Bruno Mars – Just the Way You Are [Doo-Wops & Hooligans] – 16,190,000
9. 2013 – Various Artists – Let It Go [Frozen] – 15,540,000
10. 2009 – Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow [The E.N.D.] – 14,350,000
11. 2012 – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz – Thrift Shop [The Heist] – 13,360,000
12. 2012 – Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa – Payphone [Overexposed] – 13,100,000
13. 2011 – Rihanna ft. Calvin Harris – We Found Love [Talk That Talk] – 12,960,000
14. 2002 – Eminem – Lose Yourself [8 Mile] – 12,600,000
15. 2010 – Bruno Mars – Grenade [Doo-Wops & Hooligans] – 12,470,000
16. 2008 – Coldplay – Viva La Vida [Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends] – 12,100,000
16. 2010 – Katy Perry – Firework [Teenage Dream] – 12,100,000
18. 2013 – Katy Perry – Roar [Prism] – 11,900,000
19. 2008 – Taylor Swift – Love Story [Fearless] – 11,700,000
20. 2007 – Avril Lavigne – Girlfriend [The Best Damn Thing] – 11,630,000
21. 2008 – Lady Gaga ft. Colby O’Donis – Just Dance [The Fame / The Fame Monster] – 11,500,000
22. 2007 – Rihanna ft. Jay-Z – Umbrella [Good Girl Gone Bad] – 11,400,000
23. 2006 – Justin Timberlake ft. Timbaland – SexyBack [FutureSex/LoveSounds] – 11,310,000
24. 2014 – Ed Sheeran – Thinking Out Loud [x (Multiply)] – 11,300,000
24. 2008 – Beyoncé – Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) [I Am… Sasha Fierce] – 11,300,000
26. 2015 – Adele – Hello [25] – 11,270,000
27. 2009 – Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys – Empire State Of Mind [The Blueprint 3] – 10,900,000
28. 2012 – Bruno Mars – Locked Out of Heaven [Unorthodox Jukebox] – 10,850,000
29. 2009 – Lady Gaga – Bad Romance [The Fame / The Fame Monster] – 10,800,000
30. 2008 – Beyoncé – Halo [I Am… Sasha Fierce] – 10,700,000
31. 2012 – Maroon 5 – One More Night [Overexposed] – 10,400,000
32. 2011 – Lady Gaga – Born This Way [Born This Way] – 10,200,000
33. 2011 – Adele – Set Fire To The Rain [21] – 10,040,000
34. 2013 – Katy Perry ft. Juicy J – Dark Horse [Prism] – 10,000,000
35. 2012 – Bruno Mars – When I Was Your Man [Unorthodox Jukebox] – 9,950,000
36. 2010 – Katy Perry ft. Snoop Dogg – California Gurls [Teenage Dream] – 9,900,000
37. 2012 – Rihanna – Diamonds [Unapolegetic] – 9,840,000
38. 2011 – Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Ray Dalton – Can’t Hold Us [The Heist] – 9,800,000
39. 2008 – Rihanna – Take A Bow [Good Girl Gone Bad] – 9,660,000
40. 1994 – Mariah Carey – All I Want for Christmas Is You [Merry Christmas] – 9,600,000
41. 2008 – Katy Perry – Hot N Cold [One Of The Boys] – 9,500,000
42. 2010 – Eminem – Not Afraid [Recovery] – 9,400,000
42. 2006 – Beyoncé – Irreplaceable [B’Day] – 9,400,000
42. 2014 – Taylor Swift – Shake It Off [1989] – 9,400,000
45. 2007 – Alicia Keys – No One [As I Am] – 9,300,000
45. 2010 – Black Eyed Peas – The Time (Dirty Bit) [The Beginning] – 9,300,000
45. 2013 – Lorde – Royals [Pure Heroine] – 9,300,000
48. 2012 – P!nk ft. Nate Ruess – Just Give Me a Reason [The Truth About Love] – 9,290,000
49. 2005 – Shakira ft. Wyclef Jean – Hips Don’t Lie / Sera Sera [Oral Fixation, Vol. 2] – 9,200,000
50. 2010 – Rihanna – Only Girl (In the World) [Loud] – 9,140,000
Thank you for this list 🙂
What is the biggest selling digital song in the US between Rolling In the Deep and I Gotta Feeling?
Hi IE! By digital do you mean in downloads only or with ringtones? In terms of downloads only, since we last got an update 2 years ago, IGF was 200k ahead. Since then, they have been selling roughly the same thing (in 2017 RITD 70k, IGF 60k as per Kworb). While these figures aren’t perfect, RITD would have been on leaked charts lately if it was selling enough to dislodge IGF, plus I’m quite sure an article would have been published by Billboard about it. But then, I feel the need to point out that some songs sold more with… Read more »
Amazing job as usual!
Mjd do you know how many ringtones has Hips dont lie song sold in the USA?
According to this source : https://books.google.com.hk/books?id=UA8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=hips+don%27t+lie+13+million+downloads&source=bl&ots=6nAdKCGzCQ&sig=F4gkNAzrsFHtrDt6YsWzSBvJmR4&hl=zh-TW&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwicvrTp56XZAhVJ57wKHWDOD_84ChDoAQglMAA#v=onepage&q=hips%20don't%20lie%2013%20million%20downloads&f=false
by 2006 when the downloads sales of the song were 1,2 million its ringtones sales were up to 1,9 million already . Does Hips dont lie sold more ringtones than downloads? As of Jun 2017 i think it had sold 3,9 million downloads in the USA.
Thank you so much in advance
MJD thank you for the analysis.
I have a question. The sales of all the songs are measured in the same year or the sales came from the CSPC Análisis?
Thank you for all
2005: 2
2006: 2
2007: 3
2008: 8
2009: 4
2010: 10
2011: 4
2012: 7
2013: 4
2014: 3
2015: 1
And it’s clear that when the analysis on more artists is done, both 2005 entries as well as the 2015 entry will disappear. Digital sales were truly a decade long era!
Moves Like Jagger inflated sales byee
Hi Hannah!
If you care to check facts, I’m sure you won’t have any problem identifying those 20-ish million sales for MLJ!
What about Carly rae’s call me maybe? 18 million less or more?
I miss Alicia Keys
wonder what mick thinks of the song……..you know you’re a cultural icon when another band makes a song about you………….and it ends up being one of the most popular songs in history.
Must be nice to know when you pass away people will be listening to your music for the rest of mankinds history
I think the world will be listening to The Rolling Stones in 1000 years but probably not Maroon 5.
You meanDuck S’ Barbra Streisand?
I didnt know Moves Like Jagger was that huge. 🙂
Careys xmas song, kicks ass!
It is! but with digitals sales replaced by streaming, it will be harder n harder for it to 10m
Hey, can you do please update Fifth Harmony all 3 albums sales with SEA+TEA? Also if you can do de EP “Better Together” too It would be great.
The albums are “Reflection”, “7/27” and “Fifth Harmony” (self-titled)